Connect to Compete

In February, Citistates Group journalists Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson cut straight to the chase: no region of the world can expect to compete and flourish in the demanding 21st century without state-of-the-art connections -- road and rail, air and water, plus fast and efficient electronic information highways.

New England, a century ago, had a robust rail network.

Peirce and Johnson point to an array of potential cures to the deficiencies in New England's transportation system, including a strong challenge to New England's governors to come together and form a compelling vision for the region's future. On the broadband front, New England has many bright spots, and actually leads the way in the U.S. on the number of homes with broadband, but the region is still far from providing universal coverage.

This fifth article in the six part series, “New Century, New Game,” began appearing in newspapers around the region starting on February 4th, and can also be read in its entirety at our website.

New England Futures Spotlight

Each month, New England Futures highlight projects that are already seeking to make a difference in the issue of that month. This month, we focus on transportation and broadband. See the Best Practices area of our website under Connections for more projects.

Northeast Can-Am Connections

Maine DOT is serving as lead agency for this international initiative.

While the proposal for an east-west transportation corridor has raised some issues across the three northern New England states, this transportation initiative is certainly a regional effort to keep an eye on as as it progresses through its initial stages. Initiated by federal funding as the Northeast Border Corridor Study, this initiative has brought together economic development and transportation departments from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York State, as well as Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The participating state and provincial representatives subsequently agreed to work together on a study named, Northeast Can-Am Connections: Integrating the Economy and Transportation. The focus of the study is on identifying and assessing opportunities to attract investment and to create jobs by promoting east-west trade corridors and improving multi-modal transportation access that can effectively increase competitiveness and capture new business investment for the region. Read more about this initiatve at www.canamconnections.com.

Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RIWINs)

Business Innovation Factory is working to bring wireless broadband to Rhode Island.

Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RIWINs) was launched in 2004 by the Business Innovation Factory to create a statewide, border-to-border, wireless broadband network that breaks down barriers to innovation, improves interoperability among new products and technologies, and establishes Rhode Island as an ideal place to explore and test new business models. Physical construction of the RIWINs pilot network will begin in January 2006. The pilot will run for approximately 12 months after the network becomes fully operational. Click here for more information on this initiative.

Submit your project to be highlighted next month on the topic of Health: Consumer as Captain by sending a description of the project to info@newenglandfutures.org.

The New England Futures Blog

John Fox of the Orton Family Foundation blogs about "The Next Tea Party."

If you have not taken a moment to read and comment on the blogs being written at the New England Futures website over the past few months, you are missing out on some valuable perspectives on the issues. During last month's topic on growth, some particularly thought-provoking blogs were written by industry professionals with backgrounds ranging from community planning, medicine, and the creative economy to dairy farming.

According to one blog visitor, "The Next Tea Party," written by John Fox, Director of Planning Vision at the Orton Family Foundation, "eloquently rallies for grassroots participation in the problem-solving process." Another person was glad to be reminded how "we are all in this together," after reading the blog, "It's Immigration Stupid," by Dr. Pablo Rodriguez, Past Chairman, Rhode Island Foundation.

We encourage you to not only read and comment on the blogs, but share you own unique perspectives on the issues as well. If you want to write a blog entry on any of the six issues highlighted by New England Futures, please contact Christine Petterssen at cpetterssen@iscvt.org. The topic of this month's feature blog is transportation and broadband.

The Vermont Community Foundation Funds New England Futures

The Vermont Community Foundation funds New England Futures.

We are pleased to announce that the Vermont Community Foundation has given the Institute for Sustainable Communities a $25,000 discretionary grant that will be put towards the Phase II efforts of the New England Futures project.

Phase II for New England Futures is also funded by the generous support of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Surdna Foundation and Northeast Utilities.

We strongly believe that with sufficient resources for New England Futures, the New England states can make pivotal advances on strategic issues and rise out of isolation to lead the country with innovative solutions to some of its more intractable problems. To help fund NEF, contact Beth Humstone at ehumstone@iscvt.org.

Preview of What’s to Come in March

In the final installment of their six part series, "Health: Consumer as Captain," Citistates Group journalists Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson will focus on the health of New Englanders. High-tech medicine alone isn't delivering healthy lives. Solutions like arming consumers with the knowledge needed for making better informed decisions about their healthcare will be explored. Contact the project at info@newenglandfutures.org to see how you can help on this issue.